Family Fries

written by Pamela Eberhardt
directed by Will Thomas McFadden

JUNE 2025 in the Hollywood Fringe
Fri, 6/6 @ 8:30pm (Preview)
Sat, 6/14 @ 12:30pm
Thu, 6/19 @ 8:30pm
Sat, 6/21 @ 2pm
Wed, 6/25 @ 10:30pm (Masks required)
Fri, 6/27 @ 8:30pm
Sun, 6/29 @ 3:30pm

Tickets: $15 | Buy Tickets (This link takes you to the Hollywood Fringe site.)

Masking policy below.

WORLD PREMIERE! If you could kidnap a better family... should you? Scotty is at the end of his rope when his sociopathic sister Jake barges in carrying an unconscious body. Family secrets and family recipes are revealed leading to a very important fantasy: What if you could go back and re-write your entire dysfunctional childhood? Family Fries is a play about pushing boundaries, fulfilling desires and discovering what ties one to their idea of family.

Warning: Flashing Lights. The show contains a brief strobe effect.

Digital Program

"...one of the funniest, most disturbing dramas the Hollywood Fringe is boasting this year... a tour de force... enthralling performances... commanding theater... The show runs for 75 minutes and I'd like to see another half-hour." -Larchmont Buzz

"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED... It is both truly tragic, and truly hilarious... It sets a very high bar... this is Fringe at its best." -Gia on the Move

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Performing on the Broadwater Second Stage (Entrance at 6320 Santa Monica Blvd.)

Please also check out our other Hollywood Fringe 2025 entry, MS. EDWARDS!

MASKING POLICY

THE USE OF MASKS IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. THE BOX OFFICE WILL BE ABLE TO OFFER SOME MASKS FOR FREE BUT PLEASE COME PREPARED.

FULLY-MASKED SHOW - WEDNESDAY, 6/25 @ 10:30pm: For those that feel more comfortable attending with an entirely masked audience, masks will be required at the Wednesday, 6/25 performance of FAMILY FRIES. Anyone attending that performance will be required to wear a mask over their mouth and nose at all times while in the theater.

STAY HOME IF YOU ARE ILL: If you or someone in your group doesn't feel well, has exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 or has been in contact with someone with COVID-19 in the previous 10 days, we ask that you make alternate arrangements to attend at a later date. Contact us via the Fringe site to change your reservation.

Cast & crew are tested before all rehearsals and performances. The Broadwater's performance spaces have been upgraded to MERV filtration to comply with clean air standards.

Cast

Pam Quinn as Jake
Lucas Alifano as Scotty
Tyler Hayes Stilwill as John
Harvey Ryan as Nick
Natasha Galano as Faye
Amanda Blake Davis as Diane
Scott Leggett as Mike

Crew

Produced for Sacred Fools by Scott Leggett
Music & Lyrics by Pamela Eberhardt
Fight Choreography - Andy Prescott
Dramaturg - Padraic Duffy
Key Art - Michelle Hanzelova

Audience Raves

"It is a pure delight to see a show so unhinged that every time it gets to a narrative crossroads it chooses to step on the gas."

"Madness. This show is madness."

"Wow. Amazing. I watched this my first day at Fringe but it'll be a tall order for something else to earn my vote for Best Drama."

"Brilliant! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!"

"Unexpected and twisted!"

"It's very difficult to write a play that seamlessly goes between dark and twisted and uncomfortable to laugh out loud humor. And Pam achieved this times two. One of the best plays I've ever seen at the Fringe."

"I cannot stop thinking about that show!"

"This is some wild shit, with a surprise reveal you will NOT see coming."

"Modern, gripping, and hilarious, FAMILY FRIES will have you laughing out loud and cringing in delicious agony in the same moment."

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Review

Larchmont Buzz

What do you get when you combine a sociopath, her PTSD suffering dad, her younger suicidal brother and some random Craigslist record buyers? You get one of the funniest, most disturbing dramas the Hollywood Fringe is boasting this year.

In her play Family Fries, Pam Eberhardt not only breaks the dial off of family dysfunction, she obliterates it. Full of manipulation, discord and massive doses of insanity, what hope is there for this family? Can a new and better dial replace the broken one?

Sacred Fools, long known for their theatrical excellence, does not disappoint with this play. And for those who enjoy drama, the stakes could not be any higher. Even if the crazy is too much, at least the fries look tasty.

Family Fries is a tour de force from Pam Eberhardt (Jake), and a series of enthralling performances by her supporting cast. The always impressive Lucas Alifano (Scotty) portrays a multi-layered character reduced to taking care of his ailing, wheelchair-bound Dad (Tyler Hayes Stilwill). Having lost their Mother due to a fire, Scotty wants to give away her records.

Married couple Diane (Amanda Blake Davis) and Mike (Scott Leggett) show up at the house to view the records hoping for a gold mine. What they discover... I won't share spoilers, but make no mistake, both Davis and Leggett are brilliant in their roles and provide some of the funniest moments.

Kudos must go to director Will Thomas McFadden and Dramaturg Padraic Duffy. The play and cast are well defined, assembled and aligned in all the ways that make for commanding theater. The see-saw of emotional moments is punctuated with just the right amounts of movement, dialogue and silence.

The show runs for 75 minutes and I'd like to see another half-hour.

GIA ON THE MOVE

"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"

"It is both truly tragic, and truly hilarious."

"Eberhardt has written a marvelously messed-up play. All the characters start at eleven and somehow get louder while remaining grounded in their twisted reality."

"The performances are all excellent, this is Fringe at its best."

"Director Will Thomas McFadden never takes his foot off the gas..."

"It sets a very high bar, demonstrating that Fringe doesn't have to mean rough n' ready or cheap n' cheerful."